Amazon free to use ‘app store’ after Apple drops lawsuit

Apple killed a lawsuit against Amazon arguing that the e-commerce giant couldn’t legally use the term “app store.”

The iPhone maker must not feel the lawsuit, which was originally filed by Apple in 2011, is worth pursing after Amazon threatened a counterclaim. This counterclaim said that the term “app store” has become too generic to be Apple’s trademark. Both companies mutually agreed to the lawsuit’s end, according to Reuters, and U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton granted the dismissal. Amazon explained to Reuters that Apple had “abandoned” the case.

Apple is fairly confident that people are well aware of its own App Store.

“We no longer see a need to pursue our case,” Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet told Reuters. “With more than 900,000 apps and 50 billion downloads, customers know where they can purchase their favorite apps.”

This leaves the door open to both more companies using the “app store” terminology, but it could also mean Apple might strike again. This case was abandoned, leaving the idea that “app store” is too widely used to belong to Apple undecided. The company could return and try to take claim of the term, though that seems unlikely.